What a novel, I cannot believe any Indian Muslim would be capable of writing such literature after growing up in a very conservative, Islami, Zia Ul Haqqi Pakistan. No wonder Quratulain Hyder left Pakistan to settle back in India. The novel starts from 2000 yeas ago, in the time when Alexander the great and Darius third were fighting it out. Her first hero is a Brahmin barmachariya, who is a talented artist who finds inspiration in a failed romance. The next hero is a Muslim soldier katib, the jumping a couple of thousand years who is looking to document the history of the land they have become masters off, but are completely frustrated by the lack of any written records of history. History does not seem to be very important with the local people, who only seem to be occupied with accepting all vagaries of life, all masters, abhorring conflict, content to spend their lives in trying to find the meaning of life.
Raised the very important question for me, what have gained by severing ties with India? How can we forget our forefathers and their efforts? Creating nations based on ideology has put us in a constant state of unrest. After all, any ideology is perfect, absolute which unfortunately makes it very unachievable as well. The great religion of Islam is just one of the other great religions to inhibit the great land mass of India. It has had its peak, but also its low with the British taking away all its glory. Trying to resurrect the spirit of Islam in India is a lost cause for me, as we have forgotten the skill to rule as well as severed all links with global Islamic super power of that time. What is the use of harping about unity of a weak and miskeen Ummah? We are a nation without a nation, flying in the air without a base to return to. How long can we fly aimlessly?
The 'river of blood' is used to string the novel together as the heroes change over time. The third progenitor is an English who comes to India with the famous East India Company to make a fortune. But the next change in scenario winds to the all familiar Lucknow which is Qurat's specialty. Suddenly the smooth description of the progenitor disappears as a myriad of characters suddenly come to the fore, confusing the whole story very badly. I can understand why Qurat could have messed this bit up as this was her own era so she was capable of presenting a lot more but this change in style is very confusing for the reader. Wish we had proper Urdu publishing industry in India/Pakistan who would have been able to correct this massive anomaly.
It is two novels in one. The first one is brilliant followed by longish one set in the elitist circles of 1940's Lucknow. The second one is an exact copy of 'teri bhi sanam khaney' which I found tough going as most of the characters were going through their lives without much excitement or action. Qurat's problem is that she reckons Lucknow to be at par with London, Paris, New York. The cultured girls of Lucknow seem to be in hot demand of eligible bachelors the world over. The music, the culture, the dance the political awareness is above everyone else in all of India, especially the Punjabis who in contrast are are great spoilers of culture, who are nothing in front of Luckow wallas. The second bit of the novel has brought the rating down to 3 stars.
Raised the very important question for me, what have gained by severing ties with India? How can we forget our forefathers and their efforts? Creating nations based on ideology has put us in a constant state of unrest. After all, any ideology is perfect, absolute which unfortunately makes it very unachievable as well. The great religion of Islam is just one of the other great religions to inhibit the great land mass of India. It has had its peak, but also its low with the British taking away all its glory. Trying to resurrect the spirit of Islam in India is a lost cause for me, as we have forgotten the skill to rule as well as severed all links with global Islamic super power of that time. What is the use of harping about unity of a weak and miskeen Ummah? We are a nation without a nation, flying in the air without a base to return to. How long can we fly aimlessly?
The 'river of blood' is used to string the novel together as the heroes change over time. The third progenitor is an English who comes to India with the famous East India Company to make a fortune. But the next change in scenario winds to the all familiar Lucknow which is Qurat's specialty. Suddenly the smooth description of the progenitor disappears as a myriad of characters suddenly come to the fore, confusing the whole story very badly. I can understand why Qurat could have messed this bit up as this was her own era so she was capable of presenting a lot more but this change in style is very confusing for the reader. Wish we had proper Urdu publishing industry in India/Pakistan who would have been able to correct this massive anomaly.
It is two novels in one. The first one is brilliant followed by longish one set in the elitist circles of 1940's Lucknow. The second one is an exact copy of 'teri bhi sanam khaney' which I found tough going as most of the characters were going through their lives without much excitement or action. Qurat's problem is that she reckons Lucknow to be at par with London, Paris, New York. The cultured girls of Lucknow seem to be in hot demand of eligible bachelors the world over. The music, the culture, the dance the political awareness is above everyone else in all of India, especially the Punjabis who in contrast are are great spoilers of culture, who are nothing in front of Luckow wallas. The second bit of the novel has brought the rating down to 3 stars.
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